Drop period concludes Monday

By Laura Pelner
Campus Editor

Monday will be the last day that students can drop a course without having it stay on their transcripts.

Debbie Sheets, the assistant registrar, said that University regulations allow students to drop courses through the first nine weeks of the semester, but that after the second week, courses will stay on the student's academic record.

The director of counseling for the School of Science, Alan Welch, added that this deadline is an important one for students who do not want the courses to stay on their record. Though Welch said most students who want to drop courses already have done so.

"We don't (usually) have a huge amount of traffic on that day (the last day to drop a course without it remaining on transcripts). There are relatively few (students) that are dropping now," said Welch.

There will be two more deadlines for dropping a class in the coming weeks of the semester. "The next deadline, Feb. 5, only applies to upperclassmen (sophomores and above) and it's at the end of the fourth week," said Welch.

Sheets added that from weeks three to four, the students who drop a class will receive a 'W,' or a withdraw, for it, and it will remain on the student's transcript.

Also, if a student drops a class within these weeks, he or she has to get a signature from their instructor saying whether he or she was passing the class or not. If a student is failing at the time they drop, they will get a 'WF.'

"A 'WF' counts the same as an 'F' in their GPA," said Welch. "We encourage students to stay in (the class) and give it another chance (if they are failing at this point). A 'WF' says 'I dropped the class partway through the semester and I was failing.'"

Welch actually said staying in the course and getting an 'F' at the end of the semester might be a better option. "When somebody looks at your transcript and sees the 'F' they don't know if you failed the final or what."

The last time to drop a class, March 19, is the absolute final deadline and it includes all students. Upperclassmen need both their instructor and advisor's signatures to drop the class though freshmen only need to see their advisor.

"(The administration) wanted to protect a freshman's right to be a freshman. They don't always know the telltale signs of what's going wrong in the class," said Welch. "By letting them drop without a signature it gives them a chance to try a class out. It's assumed that upperclassmen will know better."

Welch added that March 19, which is the day after spring break, will be the last day and there will be no exceptions. He said, "The end of the ninth week is the last day to drop a class. If someone comes in later it's too bad. You can't drop a class after the 19th even if a professor says it. That's one of the hazards of playing the game."

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CAMPUS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 253

Campus editor: Laura Pelner

Assistant campus editors: Kurt Esposito, Dave Stephens

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